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Strange Culprits

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Strange Culprits' lead singer Jason Buckingham sounds a little like Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, only Buckingham isn't nearly as smooth as the Seattle grunge legend. This Bay Area trio also plays loud, folk-ish rock, not grunge.

Another act that comes to mind when this self-titled effort plays is The Smithereens because there's also of touch of the late Pat DiNizio in the way Buckingham sings. These song arrangements are also relatively simplistic. Not hard enough to be called punk or metal, but certainly still guitar-centric. The chord structures are relatively straight forward, while the lyrics are equally basic. "You make me matter," Buckingham announces on "When You're Away," for example. "I disappear when you're away," he adds.

Much of this music is driving rock & roll, but "Mija," slows the beat down some. It's still amplified, but it's closer to a ballad than an out-and-out rocker. It also features a lyric filled with romantic devotion.

In the end, then, there's not too much truly strange about these particular culprits. Instead, they're a lot like classic rockers, inside modern rockers' bodies.

Strange Culprits
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